Eleven homes to be considered for landmark status in Palm Beach

Saturday

The Landmarks Preservation Commission will consider 11 houses for landmark protection next season.

Mediterranean Revival style dominates the list.

> PHOTOS: 11 homes to be considered for landmark status

"The guts of this town have always been the Mediterranean Revivals, especially the brick ones," Commissioner William Strawbridge said at a recent board meeting.

Three of the 11 were designed by William B. Eckler. Coming to Florida from Connecticut in 1907, he began working in Palm Beach 10 years later, according to preservation consultant Janet Murphy. Eckler was one of the earliest registered architects in Florida and was associated with Addison Mizner in his work on the Everglades Club.

Murphy and fellow preservation consultant Emily Stillings consulted with individual commissioners before culling a list of 30 buildings for the board to collectively consider.

In May, the board voted on each, settling on those that received at least six of the eight votes cast. All are single-family residences. They are:

Budgetary and staff resources limit the number of houses that can be considered each year. The commission conducts landmark designation hearings November through April, when most residents are in town. But adopting a list months earlier enables Stillings and Murphy en0ugh time to do their research.

Town law protects buildings from being demolished while they are considered for landmark status.

Since the program began in 1979, 309 properties have received landmark status.